Harvest moon: An Emotional Roller Coaster
by KazukiYotsuga
Summary: HM:FoMT and HM:MFoMT fanfic.Join Jack on his quest to find his partner in love on the emotional roller coaster of Mineral Town. Pairings: Jack?, Claire?If you have some time, please read and criticize. I'm hoping you don't get too bored, though.
1. First Impressions

Author's Notes:

This is my first time to write a fanfic. I decided to write it in a single person's point of view because I believe it will suit the story best. If you have time after reading, please leave some creative criticism if there are any. I believe there are going to be some, and I welcome them.

In this fanfic, I'm going to try to be emphasizing more character and emotions into the seemingly stereotypical characters of Harvest moon. And in that attempt, I might over-exaggerate some character personalities. If you don't agree or find something you don't like about my characterizations, please inform me. I'll try to compensate.

Please remember to leave creative criticisms. I welcome them very much because this is my very first fanfic.

Chapter 1 First Impressions

The sky is gray, filled with clouds that were as dark as an unfathomable well. Lightning brightened up the sky every few seconds accompanied by roaring thunder.

I sat there on a bench not far from the pink building called the supermarket where almost everyone buys there supplies from. The very fact that everyone goes to buy stuff there is the the very reason why I'm sitting here so early. Too early. I've been waiting here since 6am, but in fact, the Supermarket doesn't open its doors until 10am. I don't want people to see me buying the blue feather that just got on sale inside. I don't want people talking or thinking about it. I'm not a people person. It might stir things more than it should.

Then, it started to rain, making a sound like a crowd in a football field cheering for their home team. It doesn't take long until I was totally soaked as if I took a dive into the lake. The droplets of rain drip from my hair as I cower down to cover my chest with my arms crossed and my fists clenched because of the cold. The wind was merely blowing a breeze, but being wet from the rain made it feel a lot colder than it should be. My lack of sleep doesn't make it better at all.

The weather is the way it is now because winter had just ended, and spring has just begun to set in. I was starting to shiver as more wind blew this way. I wasn't regretting the very fact that I'm here today at this very moment, shivering to death. And to be honest, I'm thankful for the rain. No one is going to be going out and visiting the supermarket if the rain keeps on pouring down like this, a better chance for me to get in and make the purchase unnoticed.

Sitting on the bench near the supermarket with my rucksack containing a blue feather's worth of gold strapped on my back, cowering for warmth, I start to reminisce the memories prior to this event in my life. The events that happened exactly a year and a week ago.

A year ago...

It's going to be the fist time I'm going to leave my parent's home and live a life all by myself. I'm all grown up now, and it was time for me to leave the nest, I suppose. I've been living with my folks for all the years in my life up until now. To be quite honest, I was kinda hoping this day would come. I didn't want to be their baby boy for the rest of my life. With that thought in mind, I lie on the bed in this ship's stuffy little cabin. I can hear the seagulls' cries; we must be nearing land.

"The ship is about to dock at Mineral beach. All passengers whose tickets are red please proceed to the deck immediately." A monotone voice was heard in every room with a speaker.I guess it's time to disembark.

Moments later, I found myself on a beach with yellow sand a really cool breeze. It was colder than any beach I've been on, probably because it's only 5:30 am in the morning and the sun has barely risen

That aside, with nothing but clothes and rucksack on my back, I started to make my way to where the sign was pointing with an arrow saying, "This way to Melody Farm". Melody farm, the farm where I spent a summer vacation when I was very little. I could remember playing with my granddad's animals all day long when I spent my days there. Without hesitation, I looked over to the path the sign was pointing and made my way there. I was so excited to see it all again. It's been almost ten years since I last seen the farm. Walking in a fast manner, I didn't even stop to take a gander at the scenery, not even to take a breath.

Moments after following the sign boards, I stopped because there wasn't any signboards to follow anymore. What lied in front of me was an entrance with a sign reading "Welcome to Melody Farm" overhead. "It's like a theme park", I thought to myself. This wasn't here when I visited. I took a glance at my watch. It was a quarter before six. With a lot of nostalgic feelings, I enter the farm.

The moment I saw the farm, moving my heard from left to right scanning the whole farm, I knew that this WAS the farm I had spent a summer vacation on, but it was unexpectedly a lot messier and chaotic than I imagined it would be after being abandoned for 5 years. There were tin cans on the floor. Weeds that grew as low as my knee and as high as my waist were almost everywhere. There were large and small boulders all over the field. Broken branches and twigs scattered everywhere. What was worst of all is that there was trash everywhere.

I really felt a small change of heart at this point, thinking to myself "I must have made a mistake coming here."

I looked to my right, only to see a small hut with a mailbox near the door. To my left was a puny brown doghouse with a pink roof. Memories of the huge dog that I used to play with start to animate in my mind. I walk over to the doghouse and took a look inside it. I knelt down and bent over on all fours to see what's inside. There was nothing in it.

"Ruff! Ruff!" a sound startled me. I turned around to see a cute little brown puppy panting. It sat down and began scratching itself. I remembered the old dog I used to play with, and this one looks almost the same as the old dog. I hesitantly picked the dog up by its front legs. It looked straight to my with it's two black eyes and tongue sticking out. It was a boy puppy. It must have been staying here in the farm even before I got here. "I'm gonna call you Daigoro." It started to wag its tail as I carefully placed him back on the floor.

I turned to look at farm that stretched a long way. I pondered upon the thought of going back to the city. Looking at the farm really made me discouraged at this point. I really didn't know if I was up for the job.

"Hello!", a voice back from the entranced called to me. A small mustached man wearing a red suit and a red hat was standing at the entrance.

"I'm Mayor Thomas, the Mayor of this small Town. You must be Jack, Frank's grandson, if I'm not mistaken. You've grown up to be quite the strapping young gentleman, wouldn't you say?", he said with a smile.

"Anyway, this farm was abandoned a some time ago when your granddad was rushed away to the hospital a few years ago.", he put on a serious look.

I couldn't say a word of affirmation since I felt guilty for not having gone to the hospital to see my granddad during that time.

Taking a deep breath, he then continued to speak.

"We, the townspeople, have agreed upon giving this farm one more chance though, if you can turn this farm around and make it prosper again within 3 years, we will welcome you as a part of this town. Otherwise, we will have no other choice but to take matters into our own hands. Are you willing to work with these conditions?" His face turned all sad-looking.

At that moment in time, I had a lot of thoughts running through my head. The thought hit me like a block of cement. What the mayor said reminded me why I was here in the first place. I was here to prove to myself and the people of the city that I wasn't an inferior person, that I could make it on my own, that I didn't have to rely on anyone to survive. That I was going to prove to them what I was really capable of. Thoughts of my former friends teasing me for being so dependent and playful. Thoughts of my friends saying "go ahead and waste your life. It's your life anyway". Thoughts of my granddad when he was still with us. He worked really hard to make this farm work. If I abandoned it now, I'd fail everyone, including myself.

"Yes! I am willing to work on those conditions!" I said with a clenched fist, and a look filled with determination.

"I'm glad the way the farm looked right now didn't discourage you even one bit." He said with a smile on his face.

Filled with enthusiasm, I started to lift the heavy lumber blocking the entrance to the house. Bent over, lifting the logs with all of my strength. Though of carrying the logs one by one never crossed my mind. I totally ignored the mayor after those thoughts burned across my mind.

I place the logs at the lumber cabinet that was just near the house. I broke a sweat carrying those all those lumber all at once. There was so much to do and so little time. The mayor was still standing there muttering about something. I didn't quite here him. I didn't feel the need to anyway.

Remembering all those people who looked down on me, I wasted no time gathering up all the trash I can see in the entrance. The only real thing that I really didn't like was people looking down on me. I'm going to prove to them that I'm not below them in any way.

"Would you like me to show you around town?" That was about the only thing I heard from the mayor at this point in time.

"Thanks, I appreciate the idea, but I think there's a lot of work to be done here." I said with an enthusiastic smile on my face.

"Oh... okay..."his faced turned to sad little prune."We'll be seeing you then." He said, turning and leaving.

I looked at my analog watch to tell the time. It was 6:15 already. I remember once, when I was in the city studying, this was the time I usually ate my breakfast that my mom had made for me. I guess I kinda missed that part of living with them.

In order to clean the entire farm, I needed some equipment. So, I thought to myself that my granddad used to keep the tools inside the house. Maybe there are still in there.

I walked towards the hut, which was the size of a little mountain cabin. I reached for the rusty bronze colored knob. Turning it made a small screeching sound, the kind of sound that you get from rubbing two rusty things together.

As I opened the door, scent of moldy bread blew my way. Across the sunlight you can really see the dust flying. It smelled all moldy in the cabin and on the bed you can almost say there were molds. There's an old television set that was the size of a cabinet and a table in the middle of the cabin. A tool box lied on the floor beside the door and the calendar.

I opened the toolbox and a few insects even came crawling out. It was filled with cobwebs and such. The dust made me cough a little. Inside the box was a rusty ax, a rusty sickle, a rusty hoe, a worn-out watering can, and a heavy hammer. I took the hoe and the ax out and placed it in my rucksack. I never should have done this, because after that I cleaned the entire room with a broom and a mop while still wearing the rucksack on my back made the entire task more tiring. I only realized my mistake after I had felt the weariness went to change the covers of the bed and realized that I couldn't even lie down for a while on the bed because I was all dirty after cleaning the entire cabin. After cleaning up the cabin, I could swear it looked larger in the inside than it looked in the outside.

When I stepped outside after cleaning the entire cabin, a tall man wearing a tank top with muscular arms started to walk into the farm.

"So you're Jack I suppose?"He spoke with a very low pitch, crossing his arms.

"I'm Zack. I used to handle your granddad's shipment. You can place all the livestock products, poultry products, and produce in the bin you see right over there." He said as he pointed to the bin behind me.

"I hope you'll have something to ship by the end of each day. I'll do the inventory, and you can check the receipt along with the money that I'll leave inside the secret compartment inside the bin over here." He walked over to the bin and opened a secret compartment.

"I'm looking forward to a happy and prosperous working experience with you." He reached out his hand hoping to shake with me.

I took his hand and he shook me like a rag dog.

"I'll be coming here every 5pm except on holidays. I guess we'll be seeing more of each other, then. See ya."He said, as he exited the farm.

Daigoro was lying there and then he gave a big yawn. I was feeling really tired as well. I really wanted to lie down on the grass I'm standing on. I was just about to, when I stopped and realized that I haven't done anything to the field yet.

It was nearing lunch time when I finished pulling out all the weeds. My back felt like it was about to break from the strain, as every weed I pulled became harder and harder to pull. By this time, I usually ate lunch with the family. I'd really appreciate a good bento right about now.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled out my ax. There wasn't anything I can do with the huge boulders and pieces of rocks that was scattered all over the field. I could only chop all the branches and twigs that were lying before me. I moved all the little pebbles and stones that I saw to the sides of the field. They can serve as a fence for my crops when I decide to plant them.

Raising the ax up high, I give the large branch a mighty chop. With the aid of gravity, the branch split into two little pieces which can be carried to the lumber cabinet later. Doing this to every branch and twig I saw under this searing heat made me sweat profusely. "Where's the breeze when you need it?". I took of my cap and started to fan myself. I took of my gloves as well as I sat in the middle of the field under the scorching midday sun. No wonder my hands were painful. Underneath the gloves that were supposed to keep my hands clean, the part connecting my finger to my palm of my hands had several blisters and torn skin and flesh.

I was staring at it for a while now, and noticed that some clouds covered had already covered the sun.

"Sigh, so this is what granddad had to go through when he started working on this farm.", I though to myself.

I wonder how all the others are doing back in the city? They must be all having a splendorous time without me.

I took a glance at my watch once more and felt that time had just flew. It was almost 3pm. I needed to put something on the bin before Zack gets here or else he'll think of me as a slacker and a lazy bum.

With that I ran outside the back entrance of the farm into a path surrounded by greed pine. In the distance there was a waterfall. There were so many flowers on the foot of the trees.

I spotted some bamboo shoots on the ground. I thought to myself that it wouldn't be nice shipping something I didn't own, but I realized that I desperately needed it, so I ran towards the bamboo shoots, knelt down and started to pick them up and place them inside my rucksack.

The sky was starting to become gray as dark nimbus clouds started forming of the puffy cumulus clouds. I had to hurry back. I picked the rucksack and started running, making my way towards the farm. When I reached the farm, the sun had totally been blacked out by the clouds. I placed all the bamboo shoots inside the bin. I didn't bother counting how many. I panted like a dog trapped inside a car in a hot day with all the windows closed.

It's a good thing those clouds are there to block out the sun, so I thought. It was growing darker and darker and I just realized that the branches I cut were still lying there on the now-weedless field.

My back was aching. I felt hesitant to carry all those pieces of lumber into the lumber cabinet.

It was really growing dark. It's late afternoon and the clouds made the situation even more discouraging. But then I thought to myself, the lumber will just be washed away by the rain later and will just make a big mess if I'm not going to place them inside the cabinet. All my hard work will all just go to waste. The blisters on my hand are not going to be in vain, I thought to myself.

Without hesitation, despite the weariness in my limbs and back, I run towards the scattered lumber. Almost stumbling, I make my way, but it started to drizzle. A little rain wasn't going to hurt me. I placed around 6 pieces of the broken branches in one pile and scooped them all up into my arms. I ran towards the lumber shed as fast as I could, ignoring the dreaded pain on my lower spine. As I ran for the other scattered lumber, the rain started to literally POUR. I placed them up into a group of 9 pieces this time, in hopes that I'll be able to carry it.

I scoop them up with arms, hoping that I will be able to carry it. I scoop them up and manage to lift it up 7 inches from the ground, but I weary mind made me lose balance. I felt a huge pull forward and then stumbled forward flat on my face, with all the lumber lying scattered in front of me. Lying on the ground, I forced myself to get up trying to think of what people back in my city would say if I were to come back as a failure and what the people here in Mineral Town would say if I were to back out on the agreement.

I take a huge gulp and start to stand up, but it felt like the world was spinning around. It was as if I spun 20 or so times. Forces were trying to push me from side to side as I see the lumber all scattered on the floor. They were blurring gradually before my eyes that tried to stay still but couldn't.

When I tried to close my eyes for a second, it was really hard to open them up again. Come to think of it I never got to open them up again at that time, and I fell face first into the muddy field, losing consciousness under the pouring rain.


	2. Heaven Sent?

Author's Notes: In the last chapter, Jack kinda made a mistake since in reality, one should gather all the pieces of wood together and chop them all up together before placing them into the lumber cabinet. I kinda got all harvest moon-spirited and decided to make him chop the pieces of lumber on the spot before placing them in the bin.

To correct this mistake, you can say that he picked up all the lumber up, decided to chop them all up under the pouring rain, then fainted due to stress and weariness.

Or if you want to be all harvest moon-spirited, you can just ignore that little mistake of Jack's because for the rest of the story, chopping lumber won't have much emphasis as Jack will have adjusted to doing farm chores.

Oh and by the way, don't let the chapter 2 discourage you with the implied Jack+Elli pairing. After all, we'll never know who ends up with who until we find ourselves in the very end of the story.

I have yet to introduce Claire. I'm estimating she'll make her first appearance on the fifth chapter. I've got it all down in my head, and I'm just adding the missing pieces together. Please bear an open mind for me.

* * *

Chapter 2 Heaven Sent

I had regained consciousness. Its the same feeling that I get every morning when I'm about to wake up. My eyes haven't opened yet but I can hear myself breathing. I can feel the pillow below my head and the clothes that I'm wearing.

I have yet to open my eyes. My head felt like I haven't slept in days. It was like the time I spent more than 48 hours without sleep fixing up a thousand-pieced jigsaw puzzle. I was hesitant to open my eyes because at that very moment I just wanted to just fall back to sleep.

I didn't know if it was due to curiosity or if it was the responsible side of my brain functioning, but I opened my eyes for just a single second.

"Ah...You're finally awake. Thank Heavens." A sweet female voice spoke.

The voice sounded really feminine, and was spoken in a tone of relief.

I could see a bright circular light and nothing else. My eyes started blurring as I turned my head to my right and saw a girl with short brown hair in white clothing that I couldn't make out. I could tell she was smiling.

As much as I wanted to see the entire picture, my head just turned to where it used to lie and I started to ponder if this was heaven, and if she was an angel or am I in the hospital back in the city where everyone will just laugh at my attempt at life. My head started aching and then gradually it stopped aching.

I suddenly jolted to a 90-degree position, fully awake and felt really hungry, thirsty, and surprisingly alert.

I was inside the cabin in granddad's farmhouse. I bobbed my head left and right, like I did every morning. It's kind of a bad hobby I picked up during childhood. I took a deep breath as I said to myself. So, it was all a dream then. Being in that white-lighted room with that girl was all just a dream.

I got out of bed and take a look at my watch. It was 6am, just in time to get to work on the farm again. I could have sworn that I had worn my shoes before I went unconscious. I wondered how my shoes found it's way under the bed. Anyway, as I wore my shoes, thoughts of events that happened prior to going to bed was riding on my mind. I must have crawled back in here and slept.

I exited the cabin, turning back to close the door. Just as I was turning to look at the farm, a girl in blue and white maid's uniform can be seen walking towards the entrance. She had short hair, ivory white skin, a cute face, and brown eyes. I just stood there staring and images from the dream started to form inside my head.

"So, it wasn't just a dream." I whispered to myself.

"Oh, I see you're finally awake. How do you feel?" the same voice from white room spoke.

I hadn't realized that she was already standing in front of me. I stood there looking at thin air.

"Are you alright?" She asked with a concerned tone and a curled forehead.

"Ah... Yeah. I think." I was a few words short.

"Oh here, I brought this for you. The doctor told me to give you this when you wake up." She handed me a 1 liter bottle of Bodegizer.

"The townspeople told me your name was Jack. My name's Elli. I'm the town nurse." She said with a smile.

I was just staring at her. Thinking to myself, nurses are so cute and so nice too. Her hair sure suits her cute face and that uniform of hers just looks so good.

Her face started to look worried because I wasn't responding. I quickly snapped back to reality and looked to the side, not being to look her straight into the face, asking, "So, um, how long was I out? How did I end up here?"

"Ah, that. Well, two days ago, Zack dragged you to the clinic where I worked and you were unconscious, soaking wet, and burning up with fever. We nursed you back to health back in the clinic until your fever subsided. We brought you back just today." She explained.

Still looking down the ground and barely maintaining eye contact except for a few short glances, I made a sound of realization. "Oh, so that's what happened."

"You should be careful next time Jack. You were lucky this time. If Zack didn't find you, you would have..." She said with mixed emotions.

"Sorry" was all I could say.

"Oh, you must be very hungry. It's been two days since your last meal right?" She quickly changed the mood of the conversation with a quick change of subject.

Actually it has been three days. I didn't eat a single meal since I got here. I felt so hungry, I could literally eat a horse.

"Ahahaha, yeah I'm feeling really hungry, now that you've mentioned it." I smiled thinking to myself, she must be a really caring person to have asked me that. Only a few people in my life really cared.

"The inn is just a walk down that path over there. Maybe I can accompany you there before I head back to the clinic."She suggested with a smile.

Right then and there, I felt like she was really concerned for my well being. So, I just said "Okay".

We started walking without any word being said.

While walking, out of the blue she was said, "The people of this town are all really nice." I was just walking, taking quick glances at her, wondering about how long she's been working here and other things about her.

Maybe it was an act of desperation because I was really hungry and really had nothing to lose. I really wasn't much a conversationalist with girls, but it took just a little guts to ask.

"Umm, so how long have you been working here? Um... In Mineral Town, I mean." I asked with chopping thoughts of what to ask.

"I grew up here with my grandma and my little brother, Stu. I've only started worked as a nurse last year." She said with eyes looking upwards, probably reminiscing.

So, she just started working as a nurse last year. That means she must be a year older than me. In that case, she looked really good for her age. I could have sworn she looked a lot younger.

Ignoring the scenery as we walked. I only looked forward and sometimes glanced at her for a few short moments. Our eyes would sometimes meet.

We arrive at entrance of the inn. It looked like a saloon in the old wild west in the inside. All the tables were full of people except for one, which was only built for only 1 person to eat on.

I remembered someone saying that the proper gentleman must always be the one to pay for the bill and must always be the one to invite the girl to sit down before he does.

I had some gold in my pocket. Enough for breakfast for two people. Ignoring all my fears, I then asked her if she had taken breakfast.

"I had already eaten my breakfast." She replied hurriedly.

I really wanted her company and everything in this situation seemed to turn away from my expectations. I expected us to have breakfast together in this inn, then we'd walk to the clinic together.

I couldn't think of anything else to say, but suddenly my lips opened and involuntarily asked, "Would you want something to drink, then? Are you thirsty?"

"No, not really." She said standing there looking at the occupied tables.

I think she wants to accompany me while I eat. She's still looking for an empty table. With that in mind, I decided to walk over to the bartender looking back to her and hinting her to follow me.

She follows me towards the bartender's counter, maybe with a recommendation in mind. After all, she's been in Mineral Town for all her life. Maybe she knows of a really good meal.

"Um, do you have any recommendations for me?", I asked her.

"The spaghetti here is the house specialty. But the order is really up to you after all, you're the one who hasn't eaten in days.", she said, smiling.

She must like the spaghetti, otherwise she would never have recommended it.

Mimicking my idea of a gentleman, I faced the bartender and said, "We'll have two spaghettis and two glasses of water please."

The Elli pulls on my sleeve and tells me, "Is on of the spaghettis for me? I already ate breakfast and I feel really shameful." Her face was a little angry and a little sad.

The bartender with orange hair and mustache hands me a tray with my order on it and tells me, "That'll be 200 gold, mister."

I reach for my pocket and hand him the 200 gold.

It was perfect timing, since a table for two had just become unoccupied.

I carry the tray with two hands and carefully set it on the unoccupied round table. I was about to take my seat because I was too hungry to even think. But remembering the ideal gentleman in my mind, I offered a seat for Elli first.

Elli fixed her long blue skirt and sat down elegantly on the chair. I just sat like I usually did. When I handed her the plate of spaghetti, she waved her hands side to side and said, "I'm really not that hungry. I've already eaten breakfast. It's alright."

Taking a semi-deep breath, I replied, "But, it'd be really rude of me if I ate alone while you just watched me eat all this."

"No, really it's just fine. I'm really full. I'm sorry for having you order for two." She said, shaking her head sideways with a shameful look on her face.

"No, it's alright, I can finish these all by myself. After all, I haven't eaten in two days. There's no need to be sorry." I said, trying to make her feel better about what she just said.

"I'll just wait for you to finish. Then, I'll be off to the clinic, okay?"

She just wanted to keep me company? Is that the only reason she's staying to wait for me to finish? Or is she just being polite and kind to me because of the fact that she's a nurse. Awkward and mixed thoughts popped to my head after hearing her statement.

"Oh! I almost forgot. You should always wash you hands first before you eat. Here, you can use my sanitizing hand wash." She handed me a bottle of sanitizer.

"Thanks", was all I could say, while getting the bottle from her.

I looked at my surroundings while using the sanitizer bottle, and maybe it was because of paranoia or insecurity, I felt like everyone was looking at us.

Feeling ashamed of letting her wait for me, I then asked her one more time, "Are you sure you're really not that hungry? Do you want to go on ahead to the clinic?"

"Sigh.. I'll just wait for you, okay?", Elli said with a fed up face.

"Okay, sorry for making you wait." was my reply.

At that moment, while eating the snacks, I looked around the inn and felt really ashamed for everything that was happening. Elli, on the other hand just looked around and sometimes stared blankly into space until I finished the meal. Not a single conversation started, even though I tried my best to start one.

"I'm finished. Can I walk with you to the clinic? It's the least I can do after what you did for me.", I asked while I starting to stand up.

"Sure, you should thank the doctor while you're there as well.", she gladly replied

"Doctor?", I asked.

"Yeah. He's the one who runs the clinic. I go to work with him everyday except for our rest day. He's the one that helped you recover." was her answer.

So, this doctor is who Elli sees almost everyday at work, huh.

I don't know, but that thought kinda disturbed me a bit, I couldn't explain why.

Exiting the inn, we walk away from the green area into a more populated area where we can see houses and different buildings. That was my first time touring mineral town. Thankfully, I had a pretty cute tour guide too.

We arrive at the clinic at around 9pm. Elli opened the door and the room surprisingly familiar. It was the room I saw when I lost consciousness.

Sitting at the desk near the back was a man with short black hair and a doctor's headgear. Obviously, he was the doctor that Elli was talking about earlier.

"Oh hi, is everything alright?" The doctor stood up immediately upon seeing us enter.

"Every thing's fine, Jack here just dropped by to thank you for helping him for the past 2 days." Elli without any hesitation began to explain.

"Thank you for helping me." I said shyly.

"It's not good to overwork yourself, Jack. Next time you need to be more careful." The doctor sounded like my father with that tone.

"I'm sorry. I'll try not to overwork next time."

"Okay, I need to get back to work. So, if there's anything you want to see me about your health, just come by the clinic, okay, Jack?"

I bet he's used to saying that all the time to all his patients.

"Yeah. I'll try come over often." I didn't know why I just said that at that time, but it sounded really weird.

I exited the clinic and made my way back to Melody Farm. As I entered the farm, Daigoro greets me with a cheerful bark and a wagging tail. Just like that, I think I just got a new guard dog to guard my farm. I pick him up and ruffle up the hair on his head and scratch his ears. He seemed to like it. After dropping him, he runs to the shipping bin, barking at it.

I just remembered that the money from the bamboo shoots was left inside the shipping bin. I opened the secret compartment and there was a piece of paper with a record of how many crops were bought and how much money they were worth, as well as a bag of gold.

I guess, with this money, I can do what any farmer would do. I can go to the supermarket and buy some seeds. It didn't take me longer than 10 minutes to reach the supermarket. I walk to the front of the supermarket and turned the knob on the door.


	3. Stu and The Supermarket

Author's Notes:

Sorry, I wasn't able to update the story for almost a week. We're still having exams this week. This is soonest possible time that I can update my work. This will possibly be the shortest chapter I'll ever write. I think it would be better to add a short chapter this time.

* * *

Chapter 3: Stu and the Supermarket 

Upon turning the knob on the Supermarket's door, the door opened by itself and I was confronted with a rather cute face. It was Elli again.

"Oh... Jack. It's you. You startled me.", Elli said a bit startled.

After a second or two I noticed that she had a paper bag on the right hand and a little boy with a bowl-shaped haircut clutching at her on the left. I started staring at the boy, making a curious face. The boy was staring at me with unnerving eyes as well.

"Oh, I almost forgot. This is my little brother, Stu."

Turning to Stu, she said "Stu, this is Jack, the new owner of the Melody farm."

Upon saying this, Stu's eyes started to brighten up as if he saw a mountain of ice cream or something.

"Jack onii-san! Can I come by Melody Farm to play some time?"

"You know better than to trouble others. Jack's working really hard, you know?", she quickly replied to Stu.

What's with this onii-san. I'm not his big brother. I suppose it's just Stu being polite.

"Um.. Sure, you can come play at the farm.", I replied

Of course, it really wasn't convenient for me since I was fixing the farm up piece by piece, but it would be rude to turn him down.

"No, Jack. It's really okay. You don't have to. I know you're still fixing up the farm. He'll just be a nuisance to you."

Yeah, that was exactly what was in my mind.

"No, it's okay. Stu can come by anytime."

I was such a hypocrite. I've always been that way sometimes just to please others. I seldom end up regretting saying things like that.

"Really? You mean it?", she said with a smile.

Turning to Stu she said, "Isn't Jack just a nice guy?"

"Umm... Elli onee-san... Is he you're new boyfriend?", Stu suddenly asked out of the blue.

"No, he's not. We just met today.". Elli blushed a little with a seemingly annoyed expression on her face.

Stu turned to me smiling and asked, "Can you be my sister's boyfriend? Grandma said Elli desperately needs one."

"Stu! Don't joke around like that." Elli had a concerned look on her face.

I bet Stu says that to everyone. I guess it's only natural for a boy of his age to say stuff like that.

"But it's true. Grandma said you needed one because you're almost at the age for marriage." Stu had an innocent look on his face.

"Kids can really be blabbermouths sometimes, right Jack?" Elli started to switch topics.

"I guess kids Stu's age are just that way. How old is Stu anyway?" I turned to look at Stu.

"I'm 10 years old!", Stu replied with a huge smile.

"But, his mind seems to be only 7 years old, though." Elli sadistically looked down on Stu.

Stu's huge smile turned to a frown after hearing it.

"We just finished buying chocolates for Stu and Grandma. I'm going to go back to work soon." Elli changed the topic again.

"Alright, take care then."

"Jack onii-san, see you later."Stu said waving goodbye to as Elli walked him home.

I closed the door behind me as I entered the Supermarket. Still thinking about what Stu said about the boyfriend stuff, I made my way towards the seeds section on the center of the supermarket, right in front of the counter where a mustached man wearing white was sitting. He must be the owner of the Supermarket.

While I was reading the instructions on how to plant the seeds and what season to plant them on, the entrance door opened. I didn't pay close attention to who it was because I was busy reading the manuals but soon, I couldn't help hearing his conversation with the guy at the counter. After all, there were only three of us in there.

"Come on, Jeff. Don't be such a slave to your wife. Why don't you decide on your own.", an elderly yet firm voice spoke.

"I told you, I can't decide on selling stuff on credit. My wife will get angry, Duke. You know that?", a manly voice replied in a wimpy tone.

"Just this time Jeff. After all, you're not afraid of your wife or anything, are you?", the elderly firm voice asked teasingly.

The shop's backdoor opened and slammed shut. I turned to look at what at happened due to curiosity. It was already rude to be eavesdropping, but I guess my nosiness knew no bounds.

When I turned to look, I saw a pretty girl wearing a purple cowboy-style vest. She had long light brown hair, looks that could kill,and an amazing figure to boot. She was almost as tall as me. Or maybe it was just those huge pair of trekking shoes she was wearing.

"Uncle Duke, the only time that we'll ever let you buy on credit is when you decide to let me buy wine from your shop on credit. But you never let me buy on credit, yourself. And you're asking us to sell to you on credit?". The girl had a firm yet feminine voice. I turned away just as she spoke.

"Karen, you know Manna wouldn't allow me to sell on credit. It's so hard to get people to pay up." The customer started to sound like a kid reasoning out with a parent.

"And you insisted on buying on credit from us? All the while you're afraid of your wife after all.", Karen said with confidence behind her tone.

"Sorry, I'll come back as soon as I get the money.", the customer walked out all slumped over.

I was still looking at the seeds and still thinking about what had Stu had said earlier about the boyfriend stuff. I though to myself, "Maybe, it was about time I..." When suddenly I heard footsteps walking towards me.


	4. Love or Loneliness

Author's notes:

Sorry I wasn't able to update right away. I just found out that writing really long chapters, that take almost a couple of days to finish, isn't the way to go about this. For the benefit of the few readers that are anticipating the chapters that are yet to be published, I will try to keep the chapters short yet finely detailed as possible and will cut the story at the appropriate points. I hope the following chapters get better that the previous ones.

By the way, thank you to all the people who read and reviewed my story, especially Momo-chan. I really got my my spirit back after reading your reviews.

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Chapter 4 Love or Loneliness

Still looking at the bags of seeds that lie on the table in front of me, I hear the footsteps stop about 2 feet to my right. Naturally, out of curiosity, I guess, I turned to look to see who it was.

Fixing up the display of the other home supplies was Karen. She's probably the one doing this every time being the daughter of the supermarket's owner. She probably noticed that I was looking right at her, she turned towards me.

Before I could turn my head down and keep on pretending to look at the seed bags again, her field of vision had already caught me looking at her. She probably got this a lot from other men because of her prettiness. But, even though she already caught me looking at her, I still persisted to pretend looking at bags.

"Hey?", she spoke in a semi-annoyed and semi-enlightened tone.

"Huh? What?". As soon as I glanced back down the seeds I turned to her again because of what she said.

"Are you visiting the Supermarket for the first time? Have I seen you somewhere before?". She took a close look at me trying to remember something.

"Umm. I just moved in the Melody farm. My name's Jack." I tried to put out a hand to shake like what I try to do whenever I meet someone new, but I just couldn't.

"Oh, so you're THE Jack everyone in mineral town has been talking about." She was nodding her head with one of her eyebrows raised.

Everyone was talking about me? I guess that's natural, being the new guy in town. I guess I must be really intriguing.

"Oh! Sorry to be so rude.", Karen burst.

"Welcome to the Mineral Town Supermarket. Here we have everything you need for cooking, planting, and harvesting. We got some really neat stuff too."

She probably used this introduction a dozen times already. I could tell she was really used to entertaining customers.

Looking at the seeds she said, "Today we're having a sale on Turnip seeds. Buy 3 bags of any kind of seeds and you get 1 free bag of Turnip seeds!"

"Sale? KAREN?", Jeff sounded surprised after what he had heard.

Karen then went over to Jeff to whisper something that I could comfortably hear without effort at all.

"Dad, no one's buying the turnip seeds and we need to sell the other seeds before spring is over as well. If he buys it, then we'll have an increase in sales." Jeff just nodded after hearing what she just whispered.

I head about turnip seeds. They grow really fast, but you can only harvest them once and they sell at a lower price than any other crop. I only have enough gold to buy three bags of seeds. If I spend all of my money in seeds, I won't be able to go eat at the inn, let alone treat Elli to some food.

"The sale is only up to today.", Karen said smilingly.

She's really quite the salesperson. Come to think of it, I never had any hard time conversing with salespeople. They make me feel a bit comfortable talking to them.

"I'll take 2 bags of cucumber seeds and a bag of potato seeds please.". I make a hasty decision.

"Ka-ching", the cash register made a familiar noise.

"That will be 550 Gold please". Jeff smiled as I handed a pouch containing 550 gold to him.

He counted the gold and placed it inside the register and said, "Thank you. Have a nice day."

I took the 4 bags of seeds and placed them inside my rucksack.

Karen went back to fixing up the displayed items. While looking at her, I often thought about living with someone. Was I always this lonely?

I snapped out of thinking to myself and started making my way towards the door.

"Thank you. See you all soon.", I politely gestured a goodbye sign as I exited the room. I could see them waving goodbye as I closed the door softly.

The sky bright blue. It was almost lunch time. I had spent every single penny in my rucksack, but my thoughts were far away from food.

I made my way back to the farm, following the orange-bricked pavement. Looking towards the ground, I thought about how cute Elli was, how nice she was to me today, and the words of Stu about boyfriends and stuff. Kids, these days, really are mature-minded, when it comes to things like that. I used to remember when I was a kid back when I attended school. My mom advised me not to have a relationship with anyone because according to her, I never had the right to court someone. I remember when she used to say, "It would be better to focus on what you are doing now and have a relationship when you're ready. You're still growing up emotionally and physically." and stuff like "When the time comes that you can feed yourself and raise enough to feed a family, then that's the time I advise you to get married."

I wonder if Elli sometimes experiences loneliness like I do. I guess everybody gets lonely sometimes. But at least they have someone who lives with them and who can share their loneliness. My old classmates used to have romantic girlfriend and boyfriend relationships when we were young and attending high school, but they never worked out up until now. I guess what my mom said was true after all. They weren't ready yet, I suppose or maybe they just weren't meant to be or maybe they are just giving themselves time.

My parents aren't getting any younger and my uncles and aunts keep telling me to get married soon so that my parents will have grandchildren to make them happy. I completely ignored what they said, but I kept what they said in mind.

Why am I thinking of all of this. Similarly, why can't I stop thinking about Elli. Every time, I close my eyes to think, I can only think of us together earlier today; how I felt good being with her.

"Could it be that I am falling in love with her? Or am I just too lonely and filled with anxiety?", I thought to myself as I mindlessly followed the orange-bricked pavement.

"Hey, there!", a voice from afar cried.

I turned to look for who called out to me, ceasing all thoughts I had about love and loneliness for the moment.


	5. Meet Jack's Neighbors

Author's notes: It's been almost 2 months since my last update. I'm terribly sorry to keep the expecting readers waiting. I wouldn't blame you all for losing interest in the story. I know excuses don't make me a better man, so I won't bother reasoning out for the long absence. 

"Hey, over here." The voice sounded old with an accent.

I turned to look from where the voice came from and saw three people waving at me. A little girl, a boy wearing white, and a bald old man beside a horse. I recognized the little boy as Stu immediately. They were still persistently calling my me, I don't think they were just calling my attention or greeting me, so I move towards them.

"Hello, sonny, you must be Jack. Stu, here, told me all about ya. Mah name's Barley, and this here is my granddaughter May." The old bald man patted the little girl with the pigtails.

"Hello." The cute little black haired girl smiled cutely.

"Jack, we have a dilemma here. You see, our friend from out of town gave us this horse, but we don't seem to have the space to raise it properly. We were thinking of either selling the horse to someone or lending him to you to raise. We'll consider the first option if you don't want to have him on your farm. So, how about it?", Barley said with a serious tone and a smile.

Raising a horse won't be so hard I guess, and rejecting their offer wouldn't exactly be helping me make friends with everyone in Mineral Town.

"Okay, so how do I raise the horse?"

"WHAT? You will take him, then?" Barley's face brightened up.

"Okay, I'll explain the mechanics of our deal. All you need to do is talk to him, brush him, and take him outside during sunny days. There's enough hay in your horse stable to last a year, but that's just for rainy days. Horses like the fresh air and sunshine. After a year, I'll drop by at this exact same date to see how he's doing. If I see him happy with you, I'll give him to you. Kinda like a scholarship thing. But if you fail to raise him well, your scholarship will be forfeited, okay? Is that alright with you?"

"Okay. I'll check on the stable once I get home." I really didn't know that raising a horse would be that easy as compared to reviving a farm from scratch.

"Here's the colt, why don't you give him a fancy name and May and I will take him to your stable later?" Barley was patting the happy colt on the nose.

"Hmmm, how about "Dash"? Will that be okay?"

"Dash sounds like a great name for a horse." May said with Stu nodding.

"Dash it is then."Barley patted Dash gently making him nay.

"They all seemed happy about me adopting Dash especially Barley and May. Stu seemed to be happy too since he could always come to Melody farm and play with Dash or perhaps because he was able to help May and Barley find Dash a new home. Looking back May and Stu a while ago, I couldn't help but think that Stu had something for May or something. Come to think of it, they're the only kids I've seen in this town so far. They'll probably grow up to be a couple or something." 

These were all the thoughts I had while I was making my way towards the farm. 

As I was passing by a chicken coop, I could hear someone arguing. I didn't want to eavesdrop, but at that moment, it couldn't be helped.

"What's the matter with you? Haven't I told you before wild dogs are everywhere? Why did you have to let one of the chickens out of the fence?" Some guy with glasses was getting a little ticked off.

"I just thought she needed a little space. They were getting pretty crowded inside there." , a younger girl with pink hair replied.

"Is that really the case? Or maybe you just wanted to play with the chicken. That's why you took her out and forgot to put her in again." The guy was having a suspicious face.

"You always think your right Rick, but it really didn't happen that way. You're so mean." The girl was getting a little teary eyed.

I think I'd better do something before something happens, but I don't want to be nosy.

"Next time, why not let all the chickens out, huh? Maybe the other chickens are feeling a bit stuffy behind that fence too." Rick added.

That final straw made the girl burst into tears and run towards the other exit. 

I want to help them resolve this, but I think that would make me a nosy person.

As I was walking towards the farm almost tip-toeing as not to be seen.

"Hey, you there. You must have heard our conversation from earlier, right?" Rick started to speak facing the other way.

He couldn't have heard me tiptoeing, could he have noticed me from when they were talking? Anyway, I approached him caution.

"You must be Jack from the farm next door. I think I overdid the sermon part with the last statement. Could you do me a favor? Could you bring her home?" I could tell Rick was starting to feel sorry for overdoing it.

"Okay, but I can't guarantee anything." I replied looking at the other exit which leads to the woods.

"I think she went to the river near the falls and the mine." The expression on Rick's face still hasn't changed. 

With that, I made towards the exit to the woods.


	6. Didn't really do anything

Author's notes: If you think this storyline is following the stereotypical in-game sequence of events of the original Friends from Mineral town, then you're probably in for a surprise, because in this fanfic, I'll try my best to be as not-stereotypical as possible. Oh yeah, if you're also wondering when Claire will be introduced into the story and whether or not this is a Claire and Jack pairing, you probably won't find out until after the 11th or so chapter. My goal is in this fanfic is to twist your emotions. Wish me luck.

By the way, thanks for all the reviewers and their support. These updates will not have been done if they weren't supported by you, guys. Thanks.

* * *

As I walked deeper and deeper into the forested area, I noticed that everything started to become greener and darker as I continued on. And taking a gander at my watch, I also notice that it's already mid-afternoon. I had skipped lunch and breakfast.

Following the signs, I took my time to get acquainted with the woods and tried not to get lost again as well. I can't believe how conservative I was despite the situation. I even took the opportunity of picking up some bamboo shoots and herbs on the way, as if I had all the time in the world.

When I reached the secluded area where the mine was, it seemed to brighten up all of the sudden as compared to the area from before. I could hear the sound of the river water flowing. Along with it was the sound of someone breathing deeply and sobbing. Just the sound I was looking for.

There, nested among the green grass is a pink-headed girl all hunched down sitting on a tree stomp.

As I approached her, I though to myself I really don't know how to deal with a situation like this. I've never been to a situation where I needed to comfort someone or to persuade someone to forgive someone. I'll have to make up as I go along.

Standing around a feet away from her, without her noticing me, I just bit my right index finger and said, "ummm..."

She just continued to cry, most probably deafened by the sound of her own cries and deep breathes.

I wanted to touch her to comfort her like what they do in the movies, but I thought it wasn't the right thing to do to someone you're meeting for the first time. We hardly know each other.

At that moment, I just stood there thinking how sensitive she must be to have cried this much over such a small thing. Either that or she must love her brother so much that even little words from him makes her feelings hurt that much. I think I must approach her more sensibly or something to avoid this situation from getting worse.

So, I decided to wait for her to notice my presence instead of interrupting her overflowing emotions.

"Is someone there? Who's there? What do you want?"

I think she started to notice me standing around a feet beside her after a few minutes.

"Umm.. It's a... Jack from the Melody farm..." I didn't finish my sentences trying not to be too hasty so as not to worsen the situation.

"What do you want?" She's still crying to some extent, but not as hard as a few minutes ago.

"Umm... You're brother asked me to apologize for him. Trust me, he wanted to do it himself..."

As I was trying to elaborate I was interrupted.

"Why did he send you? Can't he come take me home himself!?" She didn't make any eye contact and was still hunched down.

"..." I really couldn't answer that question myself. I just thought it'd go a lot smoothly.

I just looked with sympathetic eyes making a really depressed face trying to find answers to hew questions.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you went out of the way just to fetch me and it's really my fault. My brother was right and he's probably busy covering up for what I've done." She stopped crying and looked at me with teary eyes.

"Well, he was too hard on you, the way he got mad. At least that what's I think. I really don't blame you for this and I really don't think I have anything better to do anyway." I sounded really conceited at that moment, probably because what I said were half-lies and half-truths.

"Really? Thanks. My name's Popuri. I'm one of your neighbors." At last, she smiled a bit. Progress for me.

"I bet your brother's waiting for you back home. I probably should walk you back." I offered her a hand to get up.

"Thanks, but I think I'll manage on my own." She stood up by herself and started cleaning up after herself.

"Thank you again for fetching me. I'd better be going now." She stood up, gave a bow, and went away the way I came in.

I just stood there dumbfounded. "What was I just doing?" I asked myself.

Talk about childish. She took off without even asking whether I was going the same way as she is. Well, I guess that's what I should expect from Popuri.


	7. Weight on one's shoulders

Author's notes: Thanks again to those who continue to read this fanfic and support it (Witch Girl Pilar and Mayouh101). I'll try updating as much as I can. At least I'm doing something a little more productive in my life than playing Warcraft all day. Well, I don't think it'll be too long until Claire is introduced, I'll try to keep it short and entertaining as much as possible. I want her to have a dramatic entrance and wouldn't want everything all to happen so fast.

I'll introduce some new concepts to help Jack build the farm too, just to keep things interesting.

* * *

Looking at my watch again, I see the time flow ever so swiftly. I need to go back and plant these Turnip and Cucumber seeds before it gets dark or else fatigue will get the best of me and I might end up like last time. The only thing good thing about last time is I got time to get to know Elli.

I sure hope that boy friend spot really isn't taken yet. Maybe I'd have a chance to apply for that spot. At least, Stu must have thought so, otherwise he wouldn't have told me that. But, he's just a kid, maybe he's too young to understand what it means. I hope I'm old enough to understand.

I put up a grin thinking about that as I walked towards melody farm.

Arriving at Melody farm, I was just in time to put all the shoots and herbs into the shipping bin. I hope these sell for a lot, I need to do something about my tools. I really wonder how grandpa managed to run this farm with these worn-down tools. He must have been a really strong man during his youth. Not something I'll ever hope of becoming.

The sky turns orange and the sun's almost setting. It's time to toil again. But this time around, I'll be a lot more careful not to wear myself out.

Pulling out the mini-hoe from my rucksack, I spin it cockily like some comic book character and feeling really good about it. I could see Daigoro sniffing out Dash's stable, I bet Dash arrived just before I did. I should introduce them formally later.

With hoe in hand, I start to till the soft soil near the bin. At least harvesting these crops will be a lot easier if they're near the shipping bin.

While continuing to till the soil, I couldn't stop thinking about what will happen to me in the future. In the future, I'll have to take care of my parents for raising me and loving me during my youth. No one else will anyway, seeing that I have no brother nor sister. They're getting pretty old really fast. I really blame this on them, marrying each other at a pretty old age. Well, at least they have each other.

Breaking a sweat after having tilled soil. I take the bags of seeds out, crouched down and started to crawl on the ground planting each seed. Carefully distancing them from each other, I put the seeds on the ground. This is a lot less tiring than squatting to plant some seeds from time to time like the last time. Experience will probably be my only mentor from now on.

While planting the seeds, I felt a little anxious about the future. It seems I'll be alone in taking care of my parents when they need me. When they grow older, they'll only have their pension to support them and when the time comes that they'll need extra support, the only support they're going to have to rely on will be coming from me. I don't have any brothers or sisters unlike most people I know. Everything is going to rest on my shoulders now.

I wonder if anyone else feels the same as I do. Probably not. Maybe it's about time I start doing something about the future.

Not long after I finish planting the seeds, Zack arrives to pickup the produce.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't forget to put something in here and waste my time. I was right for dropping by today now that you're not out cold." Zack picked up the herbs from the bin counting them one by one.

"I also heard from old man Barley that you just got a colt. I'm a fan of horses. They're not only good for racing, you can also use them to help you harvest produce when he's all grown up. Isn't that neat?", Zack said out of the blue.

I wasn't facing Zack at the moment thinking that he had already left, I was just filling up my worn-out watering can. I guess Zack's just trying to be friendly, he's my customer after all.

"Ah. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Thanks for the tip." I faced Zack to thank him and this time, he was the one facing the other way counting the produce.

"Oh yeah, I've got another hot tip for you. Some stores and shops here in mineral town also hire people part-time. Maybe, you want to earn extra to upgrade your tools or something. Oh, and it's also a good way to make friends." Zack replied, quite a bit late. I thought he had just ignored my thanks. He was just thinking of something good to say, I guess.

"Thanks, that's just what I needed." I started watering the area where I placed the seeds.

"Don't mention it. You keep up the good work now. I don't want to see you slacking off, okay? I'll be seeing ya.", Zack said in a semi-serious tone making his way out.

Alright! Opportunity up for grabs. I'll work really hard. Everyone's depending on me. I'll show the people back home what I'm really capable of. I might sound ambitious, but I'll have this farm running better than it was before with a bigger house, a bigger stable, a bigger chicken coop, and a better doghouse for Daigoro.

Now, All I have to do is to choose where I'll work part-time.


	8. Talking with Animals is fun

Author's notes: Is it just me, or is the story kinda getting more boring as it goes on? Well, anyway, I hope this chapter won't be as boring as the others. I'll try to keep it as exciting as possible. Perhaps the time has come for Jack to infamously start talking to his animals like a crazy person.

* * *

I wake up with the sound of my watch alarming at 6am. Wearing the same clothes, with my cap and rucksack hanging at the corner of the bed, the only thing I remember about yesterday was about being optimistic about something. I yawn as I slowly got out of bed.

The house was so small, it didn't even have a bathroom. I've got to do something about this house if I'm gonna be a successful farmer. Ah. That's right. I was optimistic about fixing things up for the future. Now I remember. I must have entered the house and passed out out of hunger or something.

As I exit the house, I felt the cool morning air around me. I took a deep breathe and started strolling across the farm where I could see the tilled soil where the seeds were planted. I'll water them later, they don't look too dry yet, I thought.

Since I skipped dinner yesterday, I can't help but think what breakfast should I eat today. Perhaps, breakfast at the inn would be a nice idea. The only thing is, they're not open this early in the morning and I am trying to save a lot of gold. I bet those bamboo shoots in the forest would hit the spot right about now.

With that, I make my way to the woods again, taking whatever profitable I can lay my eyes upon, but setting aside two bamboo shoots for me too eat. One for breakfast, and another for lunch. Talk about being skimpy.

Without wasting any moment in the forest, thinking I wouldn't meet anyone that early there anyway, I make my way towards the shipping bin in the farm and unload the items unto it. Along with depositing the items, I took the money Zack placed inside the secret compartment yesterday.

As I count the money I got, I used to remember getting as much from when I used to receive my allowance from my parents. I guess, this will have to do for now. I'll be getting more when I work harder and smarter in the days to come.

A sleepy Daigoro then walked up to me while I was about to fill the watering can. He's probably hungry as well, but I could barely feed myself. He'll just have to do what he does to find some food like the last few days I was incapacitated.

"Oh, I almost forgot to take Dash out of his stable and to introduce you to each other." Well, the animals are the only living things I can imagine talking to in this farm. And you know what they say about dogs being man's best friend and all, as well as stuff like "no man's an island."

After watering the crops, I pick up the cute little puppy and enter the stable. Dash just stood there, just chewing up the hay in his mouth. I moved towards him and place Daigoro on top of his back. It was kinda silly of me to do so. Daigoro just stood there trying to keep balance and Dash just ignored him.

I guess introduction time is over, I put the puppy back on the floor again, and tried to convince Dash to come out of the stable.

Once we were out, I brushed his mane with my bare hands. I'll have to ask Barley where to get a brush some time.

"Grow up big and strong." Talking to dogs and horses. I bet if my past self can see me now, he'd be laughing his butt off.

With everything in the farm settled, I guess, I'll make way to the town now. It's 10am and I bet every shop that offers part time jobs are open too. Well, except for the ones that are supposedly closed for today.

Taking a stroll down the street towards the Supermarket, I see someone running towards my direction, but I can't make out who it is.

As the person ran closer and closer, I started to recognize him or should I say her. It was...

Elli?

She looks distressed and seems to be trying to find something that she lost. She was looking down left and right with a really worried face.

"Oh! It's you, Jack. Have you seen a Bodegizer XL bottle? I happened to have lost the one I'm supposed to deliver to Lilia." Her face was indescribably troubled.

"Um. No. I haven't seen one. I don't even know what it looks like, but I'll help you find it." I tried my best to calm her down with cool statement, but I think it didn't sound to good. She probably thinks I'm too insensible.

"It's not a bother to you, is it? You're not busy or anything? In that case, we'll have to find it fast, or else I'm gonna be late or worse, I might lose my job at the clinic." She looked and sounded more desperate and worried by the minute.

"Okay, we'd probably need to split up to cover more ground. I'll search that way and you search this way, we'll meet up here, okay?" I tried to sound as calm and collective as possible.

"Okay." She started moving to the other direction.

"Wait!" She suddenly turned to me again.

"How will you know if you find it if you just said earlier you don't even know what it looks like!?" She looked really frustrated saying this.

Oh no, it was an honest mistake, I was so in a hurry that I forgot that I didn't even know what I was looking for. And to make matters worse, maybe Elli will think I don't even care what happens or maybe I won't give any effort in searching for it. I don't know what to say.

"It's a 1 liter bottle with green stuff inside it. Let's hurry and find it okay?" Her frustration started to disappear only to be followed by a worrisome look.

"Okay." With that, I make haste towards the opposite direction.


	9. Miracle Worker?

Author's notes: Thanks for reading up to this point. I know several chapters weren't that exciting, and I hope ones coming up will be a lot more exciting than the previous ones.

* * *

We go our separate paths in search for the missing Bodegizer XL bottle. I did what a normal person searching for something did. I looked over every tile of the floor, under and over every bench, asking everyone I meet, stranger or acquaintance, if they have seen such a bottle. I kept on backtracking every time I met a dead end.

The sun was almost at the very top of the sky, the temperature rose higher. The humid air doesn't do me any good either. I was thirsting for some water, and most probably Elli's having a worse condition than me. But still, we've got to find that bottle no matter what. I can't let her down. Not after what happened.

She probably thinks I'm just pretending to help, not even paying attention. I'm glad she trusts me enough to let me lend a hand in searching areas that she won't be able to search for herself.

I look behind every bush, every trashcan, and behind every sign. I know it would be better to look at the places Elli went through before losing the bottle, but I think she already did that to no avail. I can see her from afar entering houses she probably entered before losing the bottle to check out whether she left it there or not.

My search ended at the yellow sands mineral beach. I've searched the entire Plaza, and I believe every nook and corner of half of Mineral Town. The only place left to search was at the mine, the bottom of the said Kappa Lake, under the River, and inside the Hot spring. I doubt we'll be able to find anything there, though.

I return to the meeting place, where I waited for Elli for 10-30 minutes. She arrives there in shortness of breath, with an even more worried face than before.

"Pant Have you seen it? Pant" She was gently catching her breath.

I shake my head facing the floor.

"Oh, Jack, what are we going to do? I'm really sorry for making you do this with me. You shouldn't have helped me at all. We didn't manage to find it in the end, anyway." She was starting to lose hope. Out of her eyes something shiny started to roll down her chicks. She started to take quick short breaths.

I'm sure a hug would have been comforting that time for her, but I thought I had an even better plan.

"Wait Elli, Bodegizers can be purchased at the Clinic right?" Trying to be as calm and collective as possible, I tried asking her.

"Yes, but they're really quite expensive." She responded without facing me.

"Wait, what do you plan on doing!?", facing me eye to eye, she asked with all seriousness almost stopping her crying.

"Leave it all to me. Everything's goings to be alright. You just wait here, okay?" I tried to leave and make my way towards the clinic.

But as I was about to leave, Elli grabs my left hand with her right hand.

"What are you going to do? Are you going to buy a new one? What's with you!? This is my problem, you can go do whatever you need to do." Tears started to roll down again and the manner of her talking sounds like she's running out of breath, just like what everyone sounds like when they talk while crying.

I just give her the look that I think tells her "Well, you're worth it. I'll help you no matter what."

With that, I started to walk again, but she kept pulling my left hand.

"Stop! It's enough you helped me look for it. You don't have to do this." Elli pulled even harder.

"Why don't you come with me, and you can wait outside the clinic? Money isn't really a big deal for me right now, okay? It's okay. I'd feel worse if you lost your job." I gave her a reassuring statement. Half fact have lies. The money part was the lie part, obviously.

"Please, Jack, don't do it. But if it's really your choice, then I'll have no choice but to follow you."

Elli stopped tugging on my hand and just followed me by me side.

On our way there, besides noticing Elli's ever-so-fragrant perfume, I also noticed some villagers looking at us. Elli was still crying a little bit as we were walking. They probably think I'm the one who made her cry. I could tell by the faces they made, and the way they whispered things to each other while looking at us.

Well, partly this IS my fault for arguing with her. I don't blame them for judging me that way.

We arrive at the Clinic's entrance.

"You wait here, okay? I'll be right back." Without even waiting for a response I enter the clinic. I knew she was already late, but it's better late than never, right?

"Doctor, can I buy a bottle of Bodegizer XL?" In all seriousness, I ask the doctor over at his table from the counter.

"Oh, you'll have to wait for Elli to come back. She's the one who takes care of customers.", he just continued on his work.

"Doc, this is a matter of life and death. Sell me the bodegizer, I'll pay extra." Making a serious face, I make the demanding request.

"Oh, if you put it that way." He started to move towards the counter grabbing one of the Bodegizer XL bottles.

"It'll be a thousand gold, Jack."

I hand over the gold. After the transaction, what was left with me was an empty pouch.

"Be sure to follow the instructions written on it, Jack." The doctor went to his desk again.

"Thanks." I exited as soon as possible.

Elli, then burst to tears again upon seeing me walk out with the bottle. She must have known that the doctor wasn't the one to sell these. That I forced the doctor into selling me this.

"Really, you really didn't have to. I'll pay you as soon as I can, okay?" Her eyes turned pink and were all puffed up from all the crying.

"You don't have to pay me anything, let's go or you'll be a lot later than late."

With that, we make our way to Lilia's house. While walking towards Lilia's house. The villagers were still at their doors looking at us.

"Hey, Elli? Did that guy just do something bad to you? Want me to teach him a lesson?"

I could hear one guy's voice shout towards us. I just ignored it...and so did Elli...I think. I didn't bother to look at her reaction.

We arrive at the Poultry farm where Elli carried the bottle inside. She signaled me to go along with her.

I entered the house and saw a real Popuri-lookalike. Lilia's Popuri's mom? Her Sister? I thought to myself.

"Here you are ma'am." Elli tried to talk as straight as possible but it's obvious that she cried.

"Elli, I'm so glad you made it. Why are you crying?" Lilia's Popuri's mom, I could tell by the caring way she spoke.

Elli just shook her head.

"Oh? Has Jack there been a bad boy to you? Hm?" Lilia just smiled trying to cheer Elli.

Elli just shook her head again and said. "No"

"Ah, I see. Well, I probably should stop being nosy." Lilia giggled a little.

"We'd better get going. See you next time, Mrs. Lilia." Elli exited the house, signaling me to follow her out.

"You know Jack. You're a real life saver. Thank you so much. Sorry you had to go all through this" I saw Elli smile for the first time today. You could still tell she cried from her face. But it was a relief that the ordeal was finally over.

"Yeah, well, it was the least I could do." , I replied.

"Well, I've got to go back to the clinic now."

"Okay, take care. I'd like to walk you there, but maybe it'll be bad for your reputation. I mean, people might think I did something awful to you or something that you and I are you know..."

"Oh that.." Elli giggled.

"I think they'll forget all about it by the end of today.", she said confidently.

"Thanks again, Jack. I'll be seeing you, okay?"

I just nodded and she was off.

Phew, what an ordeal. What a day. I guess, I'll probably look for a part-time job to do on the afternoons later.


	10. Elli's letter

Author's notes: It's been a while since my last update. It's due to the release of Harvest Moon DS Cute on late March. Since I'm almost done with the game, I guess I'll start writing again.

* * *

The sun was almost down, the fields and the trees turn red-orange. I was looking for someone who needed some hired help right about this time of day. I strolled down the town, taking a look at the houses and buildings on the way, reading each sign hoping it was a "HELP PART-TIME HELP NEEDED" sign. A few hours rolled by, the street lights have started to light up, so did the lights in every household.

My search for a part-time job ended in failure, but I went to bed with thoughts about the things me and Elli went through that day. The memories were so fresh, I could even picture her really anxious face when I closed my eyes. I wonder what entered her mind as I went and bought a new bottle. I also wonder what the problem was with the village people, they assumed to much, shouldn't they have been less of the busy bodies they were. And what could have happened to the original bodegizer bottle? These were the thoughts that invaded my mind as I struggled to sleep. It was not until almost morning that I managed to get some shuteye.

The next morning, I awoke to the sensation of the sun's rays on my face. This forced me out of bed, instead of the usual alarm clock I usually set on my watch. As I exited the house all-dressed up for work, as usual, I was greeted by Daigoro. I did the usual thing, I petted him and went to do the farm chores. This included tending to Dash, cutting up some lumber, watering the turnip and cucumber seedlings, and pulling off some weeds.

It was on mid-day, when the sun was at the center of the sky, that I managed to finish everything I needed to do on the farm. As I was wiping of the sweat of my forehead, I noticed that I wasn't as enthusiastic as I was on the first day on the farm. I think this led to getting the work done a little late than usual, but on the good side, I wasn't as tired as I used to be after doing the chores.

Surprisingly, I still had the energy and willingness to go find a part-time job. So, I exited the farm. As I was walking down the path, I'm encountered by a face that I've been giving thought about almost all this time. It was Elli once again. This time, with a smile.

"Wait right there, I have something for you." Elli reached down to a pouch in her nurse outfit.

It was as if she had waited for me to exit the farm to give me something. But, nah, it was too preposterous, we probably met by coincidence. She has work to do and patients to attend to. But nonetheless, I'm glad that I managed to meet her here.

"Here. This is for you." She handed me a pink scroll the size of my smallest finger, with a pink bow tied around it.

I was just about to open the scroll and read what was inside when she said, "No. Please don't read it right here. Go read it somewhere else. It's embarrassing." She blushed just a little bit making an embarrassed smile.

"Um. Okay. Thank you", was all I could say, placing the scroll inside my pocket.

"Well, I'm going to the clinic now.", with this she made her way to the clinic.

I wanted to walk her there, but I also wanted to read the tiny scroll as soon as I can.

So, I decided to just go sit at the bench of the park and read the scroll.

As I took the scroll out of my pocket, I gave it a sniff. It smelled as any other fancy paper would smell like. It smelled sweet and fragrant.

I opened the letter and it read: 

_**Jack,**_

_**I went to the the supermarket today, just to pick up something to write this letter on. This pink paper seemed to be really cute, wouldn't you say? (smiley) I went and got this special paper just to right to you. You're that special. Anyway, I hope you understand my handwriting. It's not very often that I write to someone. **_

_**I really really want to say I'm sorry for what happened a while ago(she probably wrote this yesterday evening). I'm sorry for getting you involved in such a predicament. As a nurse, that was really irresponsible of me. Oh and by the way, Doctor kinda knew what you were up to when you bought that bottle. He said that he was just playing along, and he thinks you're a really good person to have helped me out. I also told my grandma Ellen, and she also thinks you're a really good man. It was really embarrassing, what happened earlier.**_

_**Thank you very very much for what you did earlier. You really went through for me. I can never forget that. You're definitely the friend that everyone could ask for. You were like my guardian angel when you helped me and I'll never forget what you did for me. Thank you very much. And if there's anything I you need, feel free to ask. I'll always be here to help you.(smiley) **_

_** Elli**_

At that moment, the wind blew across my face. My face was smiling. It was kinda the first time in my life when I felt that I was special to someone in some way. Of course I was special to my parents, but it's only natural, but this was something different.

Maybe I can be that special friend that she always needed. Maybe I can fill the boyfriend spot I've heard about some long time ago. Maybe, just maybe, I've made my first friend here in Mineral town.

I've got to thank her for this note, I'll keep this in my wallet forever and ever. Before I tucked it in my wallet, I gave it another sniff.

With that, I walk towards the clinic.

From the park, I walked across the Inn, where I noticed a sign and stopped.

It read, "assistance needed(part-time), apply inside."

If I'm going to be someone's boyfriend, I'm going to have to be a boyfriend that can support myself and a family right? I bet this will be part of the start of the revival of Melody farm and the start of my new life.

With complete enthusiasm, I enter the inn. I have been here before. I was here with Elli the last time, how could I forget.

I made my way to the counter, where a mustached man was cleaning some glasses.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm here to ask about the part-time job." I said politely.

"Ah, yes. We need someone to deliver some stuff to us from the supermarket. We're too busy around here to even go out, and our supplies are always running dry when a customers just keep coming in. Can you buy some stuff for us at the supermarket at a daily basis? You'll probably make a quite few trips in a day." 

"Okay, that sounds fine by me." I didn't even give it a second though.

"We'll be paying you by the end of the day. It'll depend on the amount of stuff you delivered. Our inn's closed only on holidays. My name's Doug, by the way. And I believe you must be Jack, am I right?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. Yes, that's right. I'm Jack." I felt really silly, scratching my head.

"Okay, work starts tomorrow. Come by at around this time. Oh, you can remove the sign outside on your way out.", Doug said with a smile.

With that, I exited the store and removed the sign by the window.

Making my way to the clinic again, I thought of ways I could make this job work. I could use the money from this to buy some chickens and some chicken feed or it could be better if I bought more seeds, but watering the crops would make me late for the job.

I was busy thinking about what to do in the future, when all of the sudden, I hear a tiny little voice calling to me. I turn to look behind me, but no one was there. But I kept hearing the voice, where could it be coming from?

-End of chapter-


	11. A tale of Sprites and Phones

Author's notes: I'm terribly sorry for those Claire and Jack pairing fans out there. I still haven't introduced Claire into the story yet. Heck, I still haven't finished the prologue yet. Up until now, it's still part of the prologue. And right now, I'm really confused, so many problems. One of my acquaintances said that, people create their own problems, if that's so then I must have created one hell of a lot. A war's waged inside me and it's tearing me apart from the inside. I don't have friends who I can talk to who'll understand. And I do think that I should suffer alone and fix this up myself. I haven't slept nor dreamed these past few nights. Anyway, enough with the self-pity bit. I know I'm pathetic, there's a good thing about it though, at least I can update this story more often. But I don't think my story's getting better. I'm having second thoughts about continuing.

Anyway, you're right, **Witch Girl Pilar,** those were the voices of the sprites. Now on with the story.

* * *

With my head turned towards my back, I decided to just ignore the voice and just look forward. To my surprise, I saw rainbow colored little elf like creatures.

"Hey there, you can see us?" the red one was jumping up and down.

I just nodded my head thinking, "what the heck? Am I dreaming? Am I going crazy?"

"Wow, he possesses the true spirit of the farmer, it's been a while since someone saw us" the purple one said to the group.

"Yey, I'm so glad. We finally get to work together again.", the one in orange said among themselves.

"Oh yeah, Jack, you don't know us yet, right? We're the harvest sprites. We're magical little elf-like creatures and we're good friends with the Harvest Goddess. Buddum. We help farmers like you and your grandpa here in Mineral town. I'm staid." The blue one, which I figure was their leader, made the first introductions.

"I'm Nappy", the orange one stated.

"My name's Bold", the purple colored one said.

"The name's Chef", the red one followed right after.

"I'm Aqua" the teal/indigo colored one said. Judging from his color and his name, I think he's good at watering plants.

"I'm Hoggy. Nice to meet ya." The yellow one sat down waving.

"And I'm timid. I mean, my name's Timid. I'm really not shy, it's just my name." The green one's name was a pun. Come to think of it, almost all their names are. I think I'll be having trouble memorizing their names. But it'd be rude just to call them by their color. I'll just have to list their names and colors down.

"Come see us in our hut at the tree at the back of the chapel. You can hire us to work there." Staid said as he was leading the rest of them in one single file towards the chapel.

Hire? I suppose I'll have to pay them somehow. After all, I don't think anyone would work for free these days.

"Well, I suppose I should head to the clinic now.", I said to myself.

As I was heading to the clinic, I saw a lot of villagers going the other direction, towards Mineral beach.

Maybe there's a festival going on or something. But wouldn't they have told me if there was? Well, maybe not. They probably won't tell me if it didn't concern me.

I arrive at the clinic and entered it as I usually did.

There, I saw an excited-looking Elli by the counter. I wonder what's got her all excited.

"Umm... Hello." I greeted.

"Oh Jack, have you heard?" I could tell Elli was excited about something, maybe she's going to tell me about it.

"I heard from one of the patients, a company recently just put up a cell site near Mineral Town. Isn't that great?" She smiled while she was saying this.

If I got it right, I remember not getting any coverage/signal from any service provider here in Mineral town, that's why I didn't even bring my phone from the city with me.

"Oh, and I heard, there's this guy at Mineral beach, wearing a Yellow coat selling brand new phones from China. I'm thinking of getting one for me and one for Stu and Grandma.", she continued.

If she's going to get one, maybe I can get one too, if I had the money. As I recall, I still have some in the secret compartment at the farm. Maybe it'll be enough.

"Why don't we both go check it out at Mineral Beach?" I invited.

At the back, I could see Doctor overhearing us, he was writing something. His face was as straight and serious as someone whose dog has died or something.

"Umm I wonder if it would be okay. Would you like to come along to Doctor?" She had a worried look on her face as she turned to Doctor who was sitting a little far away on the desk behind her.

"I have to watch over the clinic just in case someone comes in. I can't leave now." He was as serious as ever, writing on his desk and barely giving us any eye contact.

"Well, Jack, shall we be on our way?" I could tell Elli was excited, but not as excited as she was from when I came in. Is it because of Doctor?

"I have to get the money from the farm. I'll be right back." I was excited as well.

"Okay, I'll go with you. We can go to Mineral Beach right away. That way you won't have to walk a lot of distance." She stood up as she was saying this, getting ready to leave.

I wasn't planning on walking, actually I was planning on running. But anyway, since she was kind enough to do that, we'll just have to walk, then.

I don't know why the heck I did it, but as she was getting ready to leave, I looked at Doctor again. It was though his facial expression changed. He seemed bothered or something, but I really couldn't tell. His face is so serious, it's hard to tell.

"Doctor, I'll be right back as soon as I can." Elli took an umbrella from the umbrella rack.

There was no response from Doctor. We just exited the clinic, and the sun was glaring. It was a little bit hotter than most afternoons.

Elli opened the umbrella. It barely covers he from the sun's light. She attempted to share the umbrella with me with hand gestures and trying to cover me, but I declined politely using hand gestures as well.

As we were walking, I hesitant if not reluctant to say I had read the letter. But sooner or later, I decided to talk first.

"umm... I finished reading the letter." I was kinda embarrassed to say.

She blushed a bit and only smiled.

"Elli, thank you...for the letter.." I said, again hesitantly. I didn't know what to say.

After making the stop at the Melody farm, we finally arrive at Mineral Beach, where everyone turned to see us make our entrance from the stairs. Everyone's faces had their own reaction. Some of them even turned to whisper something to each other.

I didn't know what this was about, but I just got a feeling that they were talking about us.

We fell in line, where everyone was buying phones from a wooden stall.

While we were lined at the back. Elli turned to me and tapped me with her index finger and tried to whisper something.

"Don't you just find the girls here at Mineral Town pretty?" , she whispered.

I was a bit shocked by this. I mean, it was so sudden. What kind of a question was that?

At that point, I really wanted to whisper, "Well, I can't notice how pretty they are, because I only have my eyes on you.", but I never found the guts in me to say so. I wasn't sure if I was falling in love, so I can't just go saying stuff like that.

"Well, I haven't really noticed." was all that came out from my mouth.

She just nodded her head after that.

Hey! Why do I have this feeling that she might have concluded I was gay or something?

Just as our conversation ended, we end up at the stall. The guy with the coat then said, "Welcome, and what may madam and mister be interested in? Just pick one and I'll demonstrate the features."

We then began choosing our phones. After a long time of choosing and demonstrating, we finally get our phones.

Elli got Stu and Ellen a phone. She on the other hand got a white colored phone, the same model as mine. I was left with a black colored one because they ran out.

Surprisingly, the phones were cheap, even cheaper than the Bodegizer bottle.

Then, while making our way back to the clinic, the sun was setting. I asked Elli quite a bit hesitantly, "Umm.. Can I have your phone number?"

* * *

Author's notes: please give me feedback about the new things I introduced. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.


End file.
